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Thursday, October 31, 2013

If you are an active user of multiple community forums, the name Tapatalk shouldn’t be completely unfamiliar to you. The service has been around on major mobile platforms for quite some time, letting you discover interesting online communities on the go. On Windows Phone, however, the official Disqus app beat Tapatalk to the Store. When Tapatalk was finally released a few months back, it came with an early access price tag of $2.99. Though it was understood that the app will go free some time in the future, and that time has finally come. Tapatalk has evolved into a decent app that’s is up to the standards set by other variants of the service. You can search for forums based on their categories or topics, create new accounts for almost any forum, and participate in discussions...

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

The release of Windows Phone 8 brought a lot of changes to Microsoft’s mobile platform, but one thing it didn’t change too much is Internet Explorer. Sure, IE 10 offers some improvements over its WP7 counterpart, but the basic features and UI remain unchanged. Internet Explorer isn’t too bad for a mobile browser, and a testament to this is the fact that not many third-party web browsers have managed to gain a considerable user base on WP8. Having said that, there are still some shortcomings that IE 10 suffers, like the lack of easy tab switching, much-needed buttons like ‘forward’, and page search. In the past, we have discussed ways of overcoming these issues with the use of bookmarklets. In IE 10, there is yet another button that can be added to the mix by using the ‘add to favorites’ option of the browser. Read on if you want to discover a rather convenient way of adding a ‘Jump to Top’ button to all webpages in Internet Explorer for WP8...

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The world of Android is full of customization options and we have seen some brilliant launcher apps for home screen replacement on the platform, including the recently reviewed Aviate that totally amazed us. Though once you have customized your phone’s home screen to your liking with the launcher, wallpaper and widgets of your choice, there’s no easy way of saving that complete setup for quickly and easily getting it back later, or sharing it with others. Created by the dev behind OBackup, OSkin is a rather ambitious project that aims to change all that, though it’s currently in beta and you’ll need to have a Google+ profile in order to take it on a spin. So let’s find out more about this interesting app after the break...

The application is currently in beta and in order to install it, you’ll have to join this Google+ community, then visit this link to sign up as a beta tester, and finally head over to the app’s Play Store link (provided at the end of this post) and install it from there. Upon first launch, it will ask you for root access. Simply grant it the appropriate permissions and you’ll land on its home page.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Tabbed browsing is a useful functionality of all modern browsers that many of us simply can’t do without. It enable users to surf through multiple websites in conjunction without requiring to open multiple windows. However, tab management in itself can become a cumbersome task, especially if you keep lots of tabs opened at the same time. Previously, we’ve covered a handful of extensions for Google Chrome that make tab management a breeze, though if you’re looking for a way to easily manage them by splitting them into multiple pre-organized windows, Tab Resize will do it for you. The extension is designed to split your browser tabs into additional windows in predefined or custom layouts, which can prove to be especially useful during times when your your tab list get way too long to be manageable manually, and you can no longer can see the titles and even favicons of the loaded web pages. The extension can also be useful for viewing a bird’s eye view of all your open tabs...

Once installed, a button is placed next to the URL bar, clicking which opens the predefined layouts panel that carries different grid sizes.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

The likes of Photo Genius and Fhotoroom have always enabled Windows Phone users to have some pretty good photo editing options at their disposal, but there are times when you need more than just image filters and a few shiny features. For some editing tasks, there is no way other than transferring photos from your device to a computer and doing the work there on an editor like Photoshop or GIMP. Even something as simple as reducing a picture’s dimensions and file size cannot be done too easily on WP without the help of desktop tools like MS Picture Manager or ImageSmaller. Now that the Windows Phone Store has matured though, there are a few apps that can help you in this regard. Shrinkit is a very simple utility that lets WP8 users reduce the resolution and dimensions of the photos stored in their device’s camera roll, and that too with a comprehensive set of options...

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Files App and File Manager App are just two examples of the kind of file viewers iOS can offer. By default, it is not possible to open a lot of files on your iPhone, but there are a bunch of apps that can help you in different situations for certain kind of documents or media formats. With the newly releaseddoctape Viewer, however, you might not need multiple apps to open a lot of files from various sources. Not only is the app capable of tapping into several popular cloud storage and file sharing services, it also comes with a lengthy file format compatibility list. If the name doctape sounds familiar to you, it’s because the app has been released by a desktop file management service that has been around for quite some time...

Friday, October 25, 2013

Ever since Google revealed its $35 Chromecast dongle that lets users stream content from Netflix, Google Play Music, Google Play Movies & TV, and YouTube to their TV by simply plugging their device into it, many third-party developers have taken on the task of making it possible to stream content from many more sources to it. That said, some developers have also looked into hacking the Chromecast software support in the aforementioned apps to make them stream their media to devices other than the Chromecast itself. Cast To UPnP/DLNA for GMusic is one such free app that lets you stream music from Google Play Music to any UPnP/DLNA device by simply using its Chromecast streaming feature.

When you launch the app upon installation, it gives you basic instructions on how to use it, along with a ‘Show me’ link that presents you with screenshots for the process. Though using the app couldn’t get any simpler. Just make sure it’s running (indicated by its persistent notification), and launch Google Play Music. Note that you don’t even have to launch Play Music on the same device as Cast To UPnP/DLNA; it can be on any device, as long as both Android devices are on the same Wi-Fi network...

Thursday, October 24, 2013

The most productive people and groups always keep track of their due tasks in order to complete them efficiently and in time. In this digital age, we are fortunate enough to have many options for desktop, web and mobile platforms that can assist us with our task lists. Using task management apps, you can easily organize your tasks, access your to-do lists, and keep track of your daily productivity. Shifu: To Do & Task Manager for Android might sound like just another app in this genre, but it adds some creativity to the mix. It acts as your sidekick and tries its best to remind you of your most important tasks that you’ve set it to monitor. Unlike many other task managers where you simply put a reminder and get notified later on, Shifu is context-based and automated, making it much more intelligent...

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Windows Phone doesn’t have any shortage of to-do list apps, and even big names like Indigo grace the WP Store with their presence. Having said that, many of he truly unique apps belonging to this genre are yet to arrive on the platform. In the recent past, no reminder app has gained more popularity than Clear for iOS. The thing that makes Clear such a success is its ability to perform almost all of its tasks through gestures. This is exactly why TinyDO for Windows Phone might prove to be a hit with users. The app comes with a host of gestures, along with some additional useful features like voice commands and the ability to organize playlists into multiple folders. You can also make the app place upcoming tasks on the lock screen...

F&D has unveiled Swan Portable Speaker, their new Bluetooth speaker.Measuring 83mmx80mm, this Egg-shaped, pocket-sized speaker has been made for professionals and entertainment lovers. Working on Bluetooth 4.0 and bearing a high-capacity lithium-ion battery, it offers clear sound and seamless connections. With an ability to connect with two Bluetooth devices at once, Swan boasts of the most attractive design in its segment. Measuring 83mmx80mm, its open type design lets it breathe light and more importantly, helps create a 360 degree sound field. Once plugged out of its mini USB recharge slot, the speaker has a battery life of around five hours...

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

The Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One have a lot in common. Both these devices represent the very best in terms of both hardware and software that the Android smartphone industry has to offer, and are the pride of their manufacturers. Also, both these devices come in two variants: the standard version running the respective manufacturer’s tweaked OS (Samsung’s Touchwiz and HTC Sense), and the Google Play editions that run stock Android the way it’s built by Google and shipped on Nexus devices. Though what if a user wants to experience both variants of the OS on the same device? We recently took a look at dual-booting HTC Sense and Google Play Edition stock Android on HTC One using MoDaCo.SWITCH, which was later made available for Samsung Galaxy S4 as well. Grarak’s Rom Switcher is a similar tool that let’s you dual-boot TouchWiz and any AOSP-based ROM on the S4...

The soon-to-be-launched speaker will provide more than 12 hours of playback time from a single charge of its built-in, high-capacity 6,000mAh Li-ion (lithium-ion) rechargeable battery. It can even charge your other mobile devices on the go with its built-in USB port. The speaker wirelessly streams audio from any Bluetooth-equipped smartphone or tablet, and lets you enjoy unsurpassed portable-audio performance from your mobile devices and tablets...

Monday, October 21, 2013

If you’ve been using Android, you must have come across the name GO Launcher EX at some point. After initially gaining popularity from their launcher, the GO Dev Team has many remarkable apps on Play Store by now, including GO SMS Pro, GO Weather and GO Locker etc., all of which have earned almost universal acclaim from users and critics alike. The latest release by the team is Erase History.GO – an add-on for their highly popular GO TaskManager EX, which itself is a standalone and powerful task manager replacement app for Android. Erase History.GO basically allows you to remove various history-related data from your device from one interface, which otherwise needs to be done in separate apps individually. This data includes history for your default web browser, Google Play search, Gmail search, Google Map search, clipboard, messages and call logs...

Since Erase History.GO requires GO TaskManager EX in order to work, you will first need to install the latter from Google Play Store. Once ready, the app can be launched either directly from the App Drawer or from within GO TaskManager EX. The app has been built with both novices and expert users in mind; it doesn’t make you go through any complicated steps, while still offering you control over the data that you’re deleting.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Widgets are one of the best features of Android. Unlike other mobile platforms, Android allows users to place these anywhere on your home screens and even on your lock screen if you are running Android 4.2 or later. Examples of these include several types of clocks, Wi-Fi and other system settings toggles, browser bookmarks, picture slideshows – you name it, there’s a widget for it! Widgets Everywhere is a small Android app that allows you to place Android widgets anywhere you want on your screen, even on top of running apps. This makes it great for multitasking as well, since you can effectively be using two apps together on the same screen. It’s quite similar to our previously covered Overlays and works in a pretty similar fashion. Details after the jump...

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Everyone was expecting Google to announce Android 4.3 at Google I/O last month, but instead we got things like new developer-only tools that help smooth the development process and make better apps, and special Google Play editions of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One. Well, it has only been a month, and now we’ve got our first look at Android 4.3, albeit in unofficial capacity in the form of a Galaxy S4 Google Play edition (GE) ROM leak. As ever, we’re going to guide you through the process of getting it up and running on your Galaxy S4 GT-I9505, so read on after the jump for the instructions...

Friday, October 18, 2013

Samsung ventured into uncharted territory last year when they released the Galaxy Camera running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It combined the best features of a point-and-shoot camera – significantly better than smartphone image quality, and optical zoom – with that of a modern smartphone – quick Internet connectivity and hundreds of great apps for editing and sharing photos. Now, if you already own a Galaxy S4 and don’t wanna carry yet another Android device but still want the features of Galaxy Camera on your smartphone, today is your lucky day! XDA-Developers member LastStandingDroid has ported Galaxy Camera’s camera app and made it available for the GE (Google Play edition) version of Galaxy S4, and you can get it running on yours in a few simple steps...

Thursday, October 17, 2013

We all love to share photos in different ways. Some people upload them to social networks for others to see, and then there are those who email their pictures as slideshows to share memorable moments with their friends and family. Developed by renowned computer software company Nero AG – known for their DVD burning application and entertainment suites - NeroKwik is a web, Android, iOS, Windows 8 & RT app that makes photo sharing a fantastic experience. The app allows you to create digital photo tapestries or collages, which you can then share with others through social media. Apart from your local storage, the app can also access photos from other devices as well as the ones you’ve uploaded to Facebook, Google+ and SugarSync. Join us after the break for a hands-on of the Windows 8 / RT variant of the app...

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

GrabCAD is a popular online community for mechanical engineers, where you can easily share knowledge with other members and collaborate on CAD models and engineering project related to automotive, technology, arts etc. The community has grown to an incredible size during the last couple of years, and has a fascinating web portal where you can basically create an account and then browse a huge library of CAD files shared by community members. GrabCAD has now launched their Android app that puts everything that the web portal offers in the palm of your hand. The app comprises a host of features such as the ability to view 3D CAD models, read and respond to comments, and upload photos to GrabCAD’s Workbench project...

To get started, you need to sign in to your account at the login screen. If you’re new to the service, you can also quickly create your new account directly from here. The interface looks fairly snappy and elegant, and works equally well across tablets and phones. The main screen of the app presents a thumbnails view of Popular and Recent models shared by the community members. You can swipe up and down to reveal further content.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Radio apps and services are beginning to look as common as file sharing services but with music, it’s always a question of taste and whether or not an app can give you what you like. For me, Pandora has no parallel as far as online radio stations are concerned and I’ve found great music there. Though that doesn’t mean there aren’t any other worthwhile options around. MPme Radio lets you listen to music from radio stations grouped by genres, and while initially launched as an iOS app, it has now made its way to Android as well. You can either search for the right station by picking your favorite genre, or browse the ‘On Air’ radio stations to find what you like. Artists and radio stations you ‘favorite’ can then be quickly accessed and played any time from the ‘Favorites’ tab. In case of your favorite artists, the app searches for stations that are playing songs by them and automatically redirects you to them. From our tests, it appears that some stations have ads while others don’t. Listeners can share songs and also buy the ones they like from Google Play Store for offline playback...

The app sports the latest version of Holo UI that’s developed according to Google’s guidelines, and looks impressive to say the least. When you first launch the app, you land on the ‘On Air’ tab by default, which lists all stations that are playing songs live at the moment. You can switch to specific stations by opening the navigation drawer and switching to the ‘Genres’ tab.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Earlier this year, an ambitious group of former employees from WebEx – an on-demand collaboration, online meeting, video and web conferencing company by Cisco – launched their Evernote-esque project by the name of Moxtra. It is basically a cloud-based virtual binder for sharing and collaborating on all sorts of content. It allows groups to collect and collaboratively work on videos, pictures, documents, notes etc. – something that a lot of services have already been offering for a while now. Back in January (the time when Moxtra was initially launched), it was only rolled out as iPad and web apps but after almost six months since it inception, the service has finally expanded to other platforms as well, including desktop and Android. Akin to its iPad counterpart, Moxtra for Android not just works great, but also looks fairly elegant and intuitive...

Sunday, October 13, 2013

The developers behind the ever-popular Dolphin web browser for Android have rolled out an update to the app, bumping it up to version 10. The latest release sports a complete UI overhaul, improved search, an all new Web App store, and enhanced speed dial integration with support for up to an impressive 60+ shortcuts. It’s a substantial update and an important release by the company that has been hard at work to refine users’ browsing experience ever since 2010 – the time when Dolphin went out on Google Play for the first time. Let’s take a closer look at what the latest release has brought to the table in terms of features, functionality and, of course, looks...

If you currently are or have previously been a Dolphin user, you are surely going to welcome the change. And even if it’s your first run with the app, just get ready to be blown away by its flattened design and snappy internet browsing. The obvious mainstay of the app is its revamped UI. I’ve never been a fan of flashy textures anyway, so I found Dolphin’s new minimal looks even more appealing. Tabs look fantastic, navigation is intuitive and the whole design just looks better. Pressing menu now pops up a horizontal bar at the bottom where you can perform actions like exiting the app, opening bookmarks or accessing the settings.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

For as long as one can recall, CPU-Z has been one of those tools that are considered must-have for any PC enthusiast, whether an avid gamer or a graphics guru. The popular desktop tool provides detailed information about your system such as processor make and model, clock speed, voltage, fabrication technology, bus speed, cache, motherboard, RAM size and much more. It’s about time this nifty little tool has landed on the Android platform as well. CPU-Z for Android is still in beta, but can tell you every bit of info about your device that you could ever seek. Akin to its desktop counterpart, the mobile app also sports a barebone UI that focuses solely on showing you detailed system information about your SOC, system, battery and various sensors in its flat-out tabbed interface...

Navigation between the tabs is fairly snappy, and the app itself is well optimized for most devices. The SOC (System on Chip) tab displays CPU and GPU info including CPU name, architecture, number of cores, fabrication process, clock speed, cpu load, as well as GPU vendor and renderer. The System tab is also quite elaborate and carries information including model, manufacturer, board, display size and resolution, total and available RAM and internal storage etc.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Although Shazam has gained a host of social features with the passage of time, it is still a far cry from some of the services that are designed exclusively for sharing your taste in music with friends. #nwplyngcombines scrobbling and song identification in a really organized manner, but there is more to this app than just that. There are a number of ways you get to share your choices with your friends. You can search for a song on YouTube and post it to your feeds, identify it using your device’s speaker, or simply enjoy the tracks shared by people you follow. #nwplyng is available for both Android and iOS, and works identically on both platforms. Other than a neat commenting system, #nwplyng also offers a collection of badges that can be unlocked by accomplishing different targets related to the app’s usage...

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Staying in shape has many advantages. If you are trying to lose weight, working on your fitness or simply want to eat better foods in order to stay healthy, your smartphone can be an extremely helpful tool; you only need to have the right app installed on it. Keeping track of the calories you’ve burned, the actual steps you’ve taken, and the number of days in a row you have hit an optimal heart rate can go a long way towards make changing your body image and getting some shining results. But not every body has time to note down such statistical details all the time, so how about giving this task to an Android app?Fitness Check-up is a feature-packed Android app that can help you stay fit by guiding you through exercise routines for 11 different types of health tests including flexibility, balance, body core, strength, capacity for effort, muscle tone, explosiveness, pulse at rest, body max index, body fat index and reaction speed, and analyzing your performance in each...

The app carries an elegant user interface and works really well on all Android versions. It presents everything in an easily understandable way. The landing screen gives you access to all the 11 test types. The free version only gives access to first 6 tests but as you keep working industriously up the ladder, the remaining 5 tests also get unlocked. Upon taking your first test, you’re required to specify brief data about yourself including gender, date of birth, height and weight. When you’re ready, you can start tinkering with the tests it offers.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Voicemail lets you deflect calls when you’re busy in order to be able to access the recorded messages later. If you’ve ever thought of having that very same feature in Skype - the leading app for making voice and video calls over the internet, we have some great news for you. Skype has just added the feature and you can now send video messages to your Skype contacts even when they’re offline. On free accounts, a video message can be 3 minutes long, but with a premium account, users can send video messages of any length. The video messages can be sent from both desktop and mobile apps of the service, and can be recorded by front facing or regular back cameras on mobile devices...

To send a video message, just right-click a contact from the contacts list in the column on the left and select ‘Send Video Message…’. If you do not have a webcam connected to your system, this option will appear to be inactive.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

McAfee is a name that many associate with security and their famous anti-virus programs. The company doesn’t just make apps to keep your data safe and your computers malware-free. McAfee Security Innovations is an Android app that is a versatile set of security features for both your data and your device. The app has a ‘Smart Perimeter’ feature that allows you to connect multiple Android devices over Wi-Fi and should the two connected devices be separated by more than 30meters, either because you forgot your device somewhere or because it got stolen, an alarm sounds on both of them. Additionally, the screen gets locked and can only be unlocked with the four digit PIN that you set up when adding devices. Apart from this, McAfee Security Innovations has a ‘Data Vault’ that, with McAfee Security installed, lets you securely backup files. Lastly, it has a QR code scanner that checks if the link hidden in a QR code is safe or not before opening it in the browser...

To activate the Perimeter feature, tap ‘Smart Perimeter’ on the app’s home screen and activate it. This feature might not work for all devices and the app will alert you if your device isn’t compatible. All devices that you want to link must be running the McAfee Security Innovations app as well, and should be on the same Wi-Fi network. Tap and hold a device to rename or disarm it.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Printers are one of the most useful computer peripherals around, but they’re also, quite possibly, one of the most frustrating to configure. Then there are also the problems of managing multiple printers on a network, and making sure they are all running fine and ready to accept print jobs. Google, however, has made printing considerably simpler with Google Cloud Print that has been available in Google Chrome across desktop, iOS and Android. Though if you want to print something outside Chrome from your Android device, the new Cloud Print app that has just debuted on the Google Play Store will take care of that. The app allow you to print anything from documents to photos from your Android device...

Once installed, the Cloud Print app will show up as one of the options under the ‘Share’ menu. Just open whatever you want to print and select the Cloud Print option from the Share menu, and you will switch to the app itself (pretty much like adding an attachment to an email). The first thing you must do is select which printer you want to print from. Users of Google Cloud Print will know that both cloud printers and classic printers can be added to your Google account, and the list of printers you see will include both. An alternative way of printing files is to tap the printer icon in Cloud Print and select the files you want to print.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

While most of us don’t feel comfortable sharing their phones with others due to the amount of personal data we have on them, at times it is unavoidable to do so, especially with friends and family members that you can’t say no to. Though one can always be curious about what activities have they performed on your phone while it was with them. MobiSpy is an Android, iOS and BlackBerry app that allows you to secretly monitor incoming and outgoing messages and calls made from a phone. You can discover messages and call logs remotely over the web by installing and activating MobiSpy on your desired phone. The app is fairly easy to configure and can be setup within a few minutes. Along with call and message logs, you can also track the phone’s location on Google Map, its call and web browsing history, calendar, contacts, bookmarks and more. All this makes it a viable app to use for phone tracking purposes as well, in case your device gets misplaced or stolen...

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Thousands of videos are uploaded online across different service each day; some go viral, others are important because of their subject matter and end up on your must-watch list. With so much video content being uploaded and shared daily, it’s extremely difficult to keep up with what’s necessary to watch and what’s viral, and still get your daily dose of video entertainment. YouTube handles this well by allowing you to subscribe to channels and also showing you what’s trending or viral when you visit it, but it’s still not enough because not all important videos will go viral. Vodio is a fairly popular mobile app that takes care of all this; it allows you to follow channels that are based on interests such as technology or sports, and at the same time, lets you connect your Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts so you can continue to view trending videos from your network. The app takes it upon itself to find the videos you need to watch, and its list of videos is constantly updated so that no matter what time of the day you check it, you’re always presented with the latest content. Initially exclusive to iOS, the app is now available on Android as well...

Vodio has a simple and easy to browse interface. Swipe left or right to switch to the next channel, or swipe from bottom to top to view the channel switching tray and pick the channel you want to watch videos from. Each video thumbnail shows who uploaded it and how old it is, in addition to its length.

Friday, October 4, 2013

It’s common knowledge that Windows 8 doesn’t sport the Start Button or the Start Menu, though the former is speculated to arrive soon with Windows 8.1. This is apparently the most important feature missing from the new OS, even making many people think twice before switching to Windows 8. But how about having a Windows-esque Start Orb and Start Menu on your smartphone? If you ever wanted to bring Windows-like Start Menu to Android, consider your wish granted in the form of Taskbar – Windows 8 Style. Developed by Root Uninstaller and available on Google Play Store for free, this little app is designed to make multitasking a tad bit easier by bringing app and setting shortcuts to a Windows 8-style start menu that always stays on top of any app or screen that you have open. Once installed, it places a persistent Start button at the bottom-right, tapping which brings up the Start menu with user-specified shortcuts...

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Cloud.tv is a major name when it comes to Android apps, and App Stats is one of its offerings primarily geared towards developers, though any ordinary Android user can use it as well. App Stats is basically the ranking dashboard that Google Play Store doesn’t have, and more. The app lets you view the top free and paid apps, top new free and paid apps as well as the all time top-grossing apps, but the Play Store has all this as well, so why install App Stats? The answer lies in the app’s name itself: stats – details of how well an app has been doing. Play store simply lists these apps, and tapping one takes you to the app’s page. App Stats shows you an app’s daily rating, the difference in rating over the past 30 days, how it’s doing in each category, and what its daily rank has been for the past seven days. Apart from this, you can add which apps you want to track in a separate tab to get quick access to the same details for them. Developers will see the utility in it as it allows them to see how well an app is doing in a well-designed dashboard. The app also has highly customizable notifications for different events related to an app that you are following...

You can follow the rankings of any app, and not necessarily apps that you’ve developed yourself. To add an app to your personal list, go to the ‘My Apps’ tab, tap the plus sign there, and once again tap the next one. Search for an app by typing its name and a list of all matches will be displayed; pick the one you want to add. Tap the plus sign again to add more, or the check mark to return to your dashboard. Apps can be removed by tapping the trash can icon.